Wait or buy now?

hyperion0101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
148
Right now, it seems like it's time to wait before buying? I'm thinking about buying a single 680 or 7970 right now (no brand loyalties).

1. There is a shortage of 28nm parts around - TSMC may have shut down due to contamination? This means that the 7970 won't go down in price as much as we would hope (ideally to the $400-$450 range).

The custom PCB versions have traditionally had better OCs. The 7970 Lightning, Direct CU II, and pretty much every custom PCB have not had better than reference overclocks, signalling that the supply for "good" 28nm parts is probably non-existent or they would be more likely to be harvested for these custom PCBs which are really flagship cards.

2. In a couple of months, there is a 100% chance that custom PCB Nvidia cards are coming. There will be a n680GTX Lightning (which I am waiting for), a Direct CU II 680, and other ones from pretty much every GPU maker. Already custom ones are coming out.

3. Once the supply clears up, there should be some downward pressure on AMD - it really depends on how much they cut prices by. Plus right now inventories of the old generation need to clear up? I'm not expecting sudden drops in prices of 7970s yet - they are out of stock even at $550+ USD/CAD at times.

4. Of course, there is always the pervasive rumor that there is a GK110. If true, then we're talking about a price not seen since the 8800 Ultra, although this time the performance may actually scale up. Power consumption will probably be at GTX 480 levels.

Whether or not it will lead to price cuts on these "mid-range" 680s when it is released (likely H2) remains to be seen.

Is waiting the better strategy right now?
 
Waiting has its benefits, but also the costs of not upgrading. AMD's old stock (or at least the good stuff) is already low if not all gone. Practically, waiting for them to drop price on 7000 is a sucker's game. Get what you can now after a decent day or two of bargain hunting.

That said, if you are gonna wait, wait for the non-reference 680s 'cause they'll be the nuts
 
I think 7970 will get cheaper if AMD likes selling them. Basically it's $50-100 overpriced and everyone knows it which is why it's IN STOCK everywhere and GTX 680 is OOS everywhere. GTX 680 won't come down for at least a year if it follows 80 series patterns.

When AMD come to senses who knows? Perhaps they are happy with sales levels vs. number of chips they can produce. Maybe neither can produce many chips?

I am a big fan of buying what you need now because no matter what you'll be bumbed out since hardware get cheaper all the time so you'll feel like you paid too much if you buy now. Also you'll be bumbed out not buying now and waiting cuz you can't play like you want. sux either way so I just choose to bite bullet and play now.
 
I think a winning strategy would be to nab a 7870 or something. GTX 580 performance, but with crazy overclockability, more VRAM, etc. Price/perf is better, too. I'm an enthusiast as much as the next guy, but the 680 shortage sucks, and the 7970 is overpriced.

7870 is the way to go.
 
The custom PCB versions have traditionally had better OCs. The 7970 Lightning, Direct CU II, and pretty much every custom PCB have not had better than reference overclocks, signalling that the supply for "good" 28nm parts is probably non-existent or they would be more likely to be harvested for these custom PCBs which are really flagship cards.

This is a very valid point, it seems that most of the custom 28nm cards have performances that can be easily reached with a reference card.
 
If you can wait, wait.

Non-reference 680s should be coming out by the end of this month.

Likewise, with the introduction of other 680 cards, it should begin to open up stock a little more.

Finally, with the stock available on the 680s, we should hopefully see a price drop on the 7970s.
 
Eventually people are going to say buy right?

When the 7970 first came out alot of people told poeple to wait for the price to come down or when Nvidia came out with there new card.. and now that thats happened, you tell people to still wait for more 680 stock to show up thinking that would drop the price on the 7970.

Eventually someones gona have to buy something. I'd buy right away as before you know it, something new is out making your purchase 2nd best again. That happends every 6-12 months. Buy already and enjoy life.. its short!
 
I'd wait and see what the custom cards do for overclocking first (if you intend to overclock). If 6+8 power makes a difference, and the early tests of that Palit card make it look like it does, then it might be worth getting one of those. Unless you really can't wait a month.
 
Eventually people are going to say buy right?

When the 7970 first came out alot of people told poeple to wait for the price to come down or when Nvidia came out with there new card.. and now that thats happened, you tell people to still wait for more 680 stock to show up thinking that would drop the price on the 7970.

Eventually someones gona have to buy something. I'd buy right away as before you know it, something new is out making your purchase 2nd best again. That happends every 6-12 months. Buy already and enjoy life.. its short!

I wish we could all have enough disposable income to spend $2200 on 7970 Quadfire and therefore be as nonchalant about spending $500+ on a video card. :p

Though in general I do agree with your point. However there are certainly better times to buy than others, even if you just wait a week or so. Right before the 680 dropped, for instance, would have been a poor time to buy a 7970.
 
I'd wait and see what the custom cards do for overclocking first (if you intend to overclock). If 6+8 power makes a difference, and the early tests of that Palit card make it look like it does, then it might be worth getting one of those. Unless you really can't wait a month.

Right now waiting seems like a better solution.

And if this forum's replies were my only source, which they are not, waiting seems like a better strategy - so far only 1 person who has recommended to buy has given a valid reason.
 
If your current setup is doing fine for you, wait. If not, I guess you don't have much choice, do you?
 
If your current setup is doing fine for you, wait. If not, I guess you don't have much choice, do you?

Right now, I'm not playing much too GPU-intensive. I will be in the coming months though. I suppose I have time to wait. WoW (which is what I mainly play) runs fine. But once I start getting more graphics intensive games ... it might not keep up; I'm using a MSI GTX 560Ti Hawk.

It's only a matter of time before the custom PCB 680s come out. I think I'm going to test on my current setup and the frame rates are ok, then it may be worth skipping this gen.

Overall, this gen didn't bring as big performance gains as I had hoped. It's more comparable to say 8800 GTX > 9800 GTX. Of course, I suppose the big rumored Nvidia chip might change that perception, if it exists.
 
Street prices seem to have been affected even if MSRP hasn't dropped. Up here in Canada NCIX has 2 brands of 7970s for $500 and 2 brands of 7950s for $400 this week with no rebates.
 
Street prices seem to have been affected even if MSRP hasn't dropped. Up here in Canada NCIX has 2 brands of 7970s for $500 and 2 brands of 7950s for $400 this week with no rebates.

I have been checking Direct Canada and the other places. Still, even at $500, the 7970 just isn't as good as the 680.
 
Well that is separate discussion. :p

I wasn't trying to convince you about 7970 but just adding some information about the market situation. Right now GTX 680 supply is still low, NCIX for instance still has 0 in stock whereas 7970s seem to be mostly instock, so you might see even more price flexibility on the 7970 as that starts to get rectified.

Really though if you are actually considering value should wait for a 670ti to hit.
 
If you get a good deal on one, go for it, but I'd wait for one with custom cooling.
 
Right now, I'm not playing much too GPU-intensive. I will be in the coming months though. I suppose I have time to wait. WoW (which is what I mainly play) runs fine. But once I start getting more graphics intensive games ... it might not keep up; I'm using a MSI GTX 560Ti Hawk.

It's only a matter of time before the custom PCB 680s come out. I think I'm going to test on my current setup and the frame rates are ok, then it may be worth skipping this gen.

Overall, this gen didn't bring as big performance gains as I had hoped. It's more comparable to say 8800 GTX > 9800 GTX. Of course, I suppose the big rumored Nvidia chip might change that perception, if it exists.

If nothing else you can pick up another 560 Ti for mega cheap if you need a bit more performance.
 
Right now, it seems like it's time to wait before buying? I'm thinking about buying a single 680 or 7970 right now (no brand loyalties).

1. There is a shortage of 28nm parts around - TSMC may have shut down due to contamination? This means that the 7970 won't go down in price as much as we would hope (ideally to the $400-$450 range).

The custom PCB versions have traditionally had better OCs. The 7970 Lightning, Direct CU II, and pretty much every custom PCB have not had better than reference overclocks, signalling that the supply for "good" 28nm parts is probably non-existent or they would be more likely to be harvested for these custom PCBs which are really flagship cards.

2. In a couple of months, there is a 100% chance that custom PCB Nvidia cards are coming. There will be a n680GTX Lightning (which I am waiting for), a Direct CU II 680, and other ones from pretty much every GPU maker. Already custom ones are coming out.

3. Once the supply clears up, there should be some downward pressure on AMD - it really depends on how much they cut prices by. Plus right now inventories of the old generation need to clear up? I'm not expecting sudden drops in prices of 7970s yet - they are out of stock even at $550+ USD/CAD at times.

4. Of course, there is always the pervasive rumor that there is a GK110. If true, then we're talking about a price not seen since the 8800 Ultra, although this time the performance may actually scale up. Power consumption will probably be at GTX 480 levels.

Whether or not it will lead to price cuts on these "mid-range" 680s when it is released (likely H2) remains to be seen.

Is waiting the better strategy right now?

Buy a 7970 now from the FS/FT section. $450 shipped is a very common price for a used reference model and many people have bought them for $430 after some bargaining. If you want a non-reference I was talking to a guy that would have sold me his XFX DD overclocked model for $465 but I went for a reference Sapphire instead because of the price.

Buy a used card, then turn around and sell it in a few months if you feel like big Kepler is coming out soon. I bought my two 6950's a while ago, used them for a few months, then sold them on ebay for more than I bought them for originally. It's like renting a card and making money while you're at it.
 
I can't seem to link the source but its on hardcanucks

Price cuts inbound. Hold the line a little longer
 
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There's always something around the corner. If you need the performance now, buy now. If not, buy when you need it. Seems simple enough.
 
I'd say wait to see how far the 7970 is price cut, supposedly next week its going to lower by 70-75$. Some models are already 529$, so depending on the amount of the cut it could be viable...they could possibly lower to 460-470 next week. Otherwise you can get a 680 now if you can find one, can't go wrong.
 
I think it's been said on this forum before, if you wait for the next best thing to drop before you buy... you'll be waiting forever.

That being said, price drops on the soon to be last gen are coming
 
While true that there are always newer generations of GPUs coming, there are better times to wait than others.

Right now, there seem to be 7970 price cuts coming. We'll see if they are represented in real world street prices though.
 
I think a winning strategy would be to nab a 7870 or something. GTX 580 performance, but with crazy overclockability, more VRAM, etc. Price/perf is better, too. I'm an enthusiast as much as the next guy, but the 680 shortage sucks, and the 7970 is overpriced.

7870 is the way to go.

Totally agree with you. You can't beat the 7870 if you don't want your system to sound like a jet plane in games and only run 1920x1080 res like I do. I'm upgrading from a 4870x2 and CAN'T WAIT for my system to stop sounding like a jet plane and shutting down in the summer due to excess heat. :D The 7970 is expensive, hot and loud, just like the 580. The 680 is less hot and loud, but still not as cool and quiet as the 7870.

And the only Direct X 11.1 part Nvidia has right now is the out of stock/overexpensive 680.
 
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